BITS AND PIECES ON THE OCTOBER 12, 2025 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN CAMEROON (Friday, October 17, 2025): PART 1

THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 9 ITEMS IN THIS PACKAGE:   1) October 12, 2025 Presidential Election Was Marred By Irregularities.   2) President Of A YANGO Party Clashed In Public With Party’s Presidential Candidate, A Day, After Election.  3) Gov’t Threatened To Shut Down RFI Transmitters In Cameroon, If  The Radio Network Dared To Air ISSA TCHIROMA’S Message Claiming That He Won The Presidential Election.   4) Managing Director Of ELECAM, Refused To Pick The Desperate Call Of An Opposition Candidate, On Voting Day.    5) ISSA TCHIROMA’S Message To Cameroonians, As He Proclaimed Himself ‘President- Elect’.    6) MINAT And ELECAM Bosses Warn That Only Constitutional Council Has Authority To Proclaim Official Result Of Presidential Election. Etc

 October 12, 2025 Election Was Marred By Several Irregularities

Like in past presidential elections in Cameroon since the rebirth of multiparty politics, the October 12, 2025 presidential election was unfortunately not any different, as it was marred by several cases of irregularities like the stuffing of ballot boxes, complicity between the ruling CPDM and the election organizing institution (Elections Cameroon) which is more like and organ of the CPDM, multiple voting, corruption, inflating figures, intimidations, violence, and so on. In the case of electoral fraud for example, the Douala based SDF leader and presidential candidate, Hon Joshua Osih, told the media in the course of the voting day, that he had received a report from Limbe, of somebody who was caught with over 100 ballot papers. That was definitely somebody indulged in multiple voting or stuffing of ballot boxes. There was also a video that circulated online of a young man that was caught by the police in a polling station in Garoua, with several ballot papers.  In Muea (outskirt of Buea town), the head of the polling centre who was the representative of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), and the representative of the CPDM, ran away with ballot boxes in the evening when vote counting had not yet been done, on the pretext that the DO of Buea had instructed that the ballot boxes be brought to his office for the vote counting exercise to take place there, for security reasons. Also, a video appeared on voting day, in which some men in a private home somewhere in Cameroon were seen with a  pile of the ballot papers of the CPDM candidate, putting them into  envelopes, definitely for the stuffing of ballot boxes.  There was also a video that showed a woman that was caught pants down in an act of corruption. She sat in a private vehicle , a Toyota (double cabin),  a little bit away from a polling centre, and was giving money to voters who brought her the ballot papers of the other candidates after voting, as proof that they voted for the CPDM candidate. In fact there were  quite a number of cases in a number of different localities, where some people were caught trying to leave  the polling stations after, voting, with the ballot papers of opposition candidates, definitely to go and collect money. Vote buying. There were also cases where some presidents of polling stations (representatives of ELECAM), pushed out the polling agents of some opposition parties from polling stations apparently to give room to the CPDM to  engage in electoral fraud.  The PCRN leader and presidential candidate, Cabral Libii Ngue for example, was bitter that his polling agents were illegally pushed out of many polling stations by the security forces, on the demand of the Presidents of polling stations, for unfounded allegations.  Violence also erupted in a number of places on that voting day in Cameroon, especially in Garoua, where there were open clashes between security forces and supporters of Garoua based FSNC leader and presidential candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary. A gendarmerie vehicle was reportedly destroyed and a female gendarmerie officer severely injured.  Security forces made a number of arrests.  There was also the tragic case in Maroua of a young man, Bertrand Menye, who hailed from the South Region, who was murdered by a group of thugs, after he voted and was returning to his residence on that Sunday, October 12.  Also, there were so many cases of intimidation across the country on that voting day, championed by CPDM elites. The October 12 presidential election took place under a highly tensed atmosphere in some parts of the country, and the tension over the election continues till date.

Opposition Failed To Designate A Consensus Candidate For The October 12, 2025 Presidential Election

After all the calls and even pleas apparently by a majority of Cameroonians crying for change in the country, that the opposition should either designate a single candidate, or at least a consensus candidate for the October 12, 2025 presidential elections, opposition candidates still went in for the election on Sunday in disperse ranks, just as happened in past presidential elections in the last two decades. Only two of the 11 presidential candidates from the opposition, that is, Akere Tabeng Muna who went in on the ticket of ‘Parti Univers’ (a YANGO Party) of Prof Nkou Mvondo Prosper, and Ateki Seta Caxton that went on the ticket of PAL (a YANGO Party) of Celestin Bedzigui, withdrew their candidacies to support one of the opposition candidates, Bello Bouba Maigari, former member of government. This left as many as nine candidates from the opposition that participated in the presidential election last Sunday, October 12 against the incumbent, 92 year old Paul Biya of the CPDM, who has been in power for over 42 years.  The nine presidential candidates of the opposition, included: Bello Bouba Maigari of UNDP, Mayor Hermine Patricia Tomaino epse Ndam Njoya of CDU,  Issa Tchiroma Bakary of FSNC, Hiram Samuel Iyodi of FDC (a YANGO Party), Hon Kwemo Pierre of UMS, Hon Cabral Libii Ngue of PCRN,  Chief Hon Joshua Nambangi Osih of SDF,  Serge Espoir Matomba of PURS,  and Bougha Hagbe Jacques of MCNC (a YANGO Party).  Worth noting that the opposition candidates also failed to set up a united from that some of the candidates like Joshua Osih and Cabral Libii had proposed. The united opposition front which Osih and Cabral Libii proposed separately was, for the candidates and their parties to adopt a system to jointly fight against electoral fraud, and to share polling agents.

RFI Threatened That Its Transmitters Would Be Shut Down, If It Aired The Declaration Of  Issa Tchiroma, That He Won The Election

Apparently for the first time in many years, Radio France Internationale, RFI, received a stern warning or a severe threat by the Cameroon Government, that it would be banned or cut off from the country, if it dared to air any declaration by the FSNC leader and presidential candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, unilaterally and illegally, declaring himself as the President – elect of Cameroon, following the October 12, 2025 presidential election. It should be noted that the relationship between the Biya regime and FRI is often not good, as the regime repeatedly accuses the international media organ, of broadcasting messages or declaration made by some Cameroonians, that the Biya regime considers as subversive elements, plotting to destabilize Cameroon with the complicity of international French radio station. It should be noted that while voting was going on across Cameroon last Sunday, some seemingly unfounded reports that were apparently put out by some pro-regime persons, appeared on the social media, alleging that there was a plot in the making by a Cameroonian politician and FRI, to destabilize Cameroon.

Meanwhile, in the message that was addressed to the Directorate of the African Service of FRI by Cameroon’s Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, who is also the Government’s Spokesperson, the minister warned that the Cameroon Government would shut down the total of six transmitters that RFI has installed across Cameroon, if the media organ dared to carry any message from Issa Tchiroma, claiming to have won the October 12 presidential election in Cameroon. RFI was reminded that only the Constitutional Council has the authority, to proclaim the official result of the October 12, 2025 presidential election in Cameroon. To show that the Government meant business, the Minister of Communication is said to had sent a copy of the Government correspondence addressed to RFI, to his colleague, the Minister of Territorial Administration, considering that it is the ministry that would through local administrative authorities, implement the Government decision or sanction, to shut the transmitters of FRI, if the media organ disregarded the Government warning or threat.

It should be noted that FRI has for many years, remain an international radio network that is widely followed in Francophone African countries or former French colonies. RFI which is owned by the French Republic, just like France 24 Tv that came much later, used to have lots of power or influence in former French colonies in Africa, including Cameroon. This was of course due to the fear of France.  But in the last few years, the power has been dropping, as some former French colonies in Africa like Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali that currently have leaders that no longer accept or condone the neocolonialism of France, cracks down hard on any French media organ that tries to falsely paint a negative picture of the country, or that tries to denigrate the leadership of any of the countries, as used to happen in the past. So RFI now applies some caution, in the way it deals with the Governments of Francophone African countries.

Meanwhile in the night of Monday, October 13 breaking Tuesday, October 14, 2025, the FSNC leader and candidate at the October 12 presidential election, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, declared in an address, that from PVs gotten from polling stations that were in his possession, he indisputably won the October 12 presidential election. He called on Paul Biya to recognize his defeat. Up till yesterday evening (Wednesday, October 15), there was no indication that FRI has aired the declaration that Issa Tchiroma made, and this explains why his declaration seemed not to have spread widely.

The Oldest Presidential Candidate, Was More Than Double The Age Of T]he Youngest Candidate

Hermine Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, Mayor of Foumban and former MP of Noun Centre Constituency, was the only female candidate in the October 12, 2025 presidential election. The oldest candidate in the October 12, 2025 presidential election was of course the 92 year old Paul Biya, who is the second longest serving President in the world. And come to think of it, that Douala based Hiram Samuel Iyodi, who was the youngest candidate in the election, is less than 40 years old. And so the oldest candidate in the October 12 presidential election was, more than double, the age of the youngest candidate.

It should be noted that at the 2018 presidential election, Hiram Samuel Iyodi, who was then a member of Akere Muna’s NOW Movement, supported the candidacy of Muna, and later followed Muna to support Prof Maurice Kamto of MRC, when Muna withdrew his candidature to support Kamto. But Hiram Iyodi left Akere Muna’s NOW Movement, after the presidential election. He and some colleagues, failed to convince Muna that they should create a political party, for they had taken interest in politics. Muna refused, and said he preferred to return to the civil society with his NOW Movement, with focus on the fight against corruption.  So Iyodi and some colleagues left the NOW Movement, created their political party, MP3, and deposited documents for its legalization at the Ministry of Territorial Administration.  But the ministry dragged on and only legalized the party in 2023, and so Hiram Iyodi had to look for a YANGO Party for a negotiation, to run on its ticket, in the 2025 presidential election. That was how he became the presidential candidate of Denis Emilien Atangana’s FDC Party.

Managing Director Of ELECAM, Essousse Erik, On Election Day Refused To Pick The Call Of An Opposition Candidate

After polls closed in the presidential election on Sunday, October 12, 2025, the Managing Director of ELECAM, Dr Essousse Erik, in a declaration claimed that all went well on that day.  Spurious!  Worse still, the Managing Director failed to pick his call, to put order into an illegal practice that his men were reportedly carrying out in the field. According to PCRN’s National President and presidential candidate of the October 12, 2025 presidential election, Hon Cabral Libii Ngue, no sooner did voting start on that Sunday, October 12, than his National Campaign Team started receiving desperate calls from the party’s polling agents in some parts of the country, especially in the Centre Region, that they had been pushed out of the polling stations by security officers, on the instruction of Presidents of the polling stations.  Cabral Libii said they were pushed out on the pretext that, the document they had, authorizing them to be his polling agents, were not, genuine. He said the allegation was false, for all the authorizations that the polling agents had, were signed by him, and that the list of his polling agents was submitted to ELECAM in line with the Electoral Code.

The PCRN presidential candidate said the situation was even made worse for him and his campaign team, as when his campaign team informed him of what was happening in the field, he tried several times to contact the Managing Director of ELECAM, Essousse Erik, but he would not pick the call. Cabral Libii disclosed that in Zoetele for example, his polling agents were sent away from all polling stations and, that, from all indications, it was planned. It should be noted that the Managing Director of ELECAM and his close collaborators, who were directly involved in the organization of the presidential election, certainly had the contacts of all the presidential candidates, and even those of their campaign managers.  That the Managing Director of ELECAM, would not pick a call from a presidential candidate, and especially on voting day, is terrible. Of course it is no secret that ELECAM is more like an organ of the ruling CPDM, and discriminates against the opposition.

National President Of FDC, Blast Party’s Presidential Candidate Hiram Samuel Iyodi, One Day After Presidential Election /Congratulates Biya

The National President of FDC, Denis Emilien Atangana, councilor at the Monatele Municipal Council, Lekie Division in the Centre Region, granted a press conference in Yaounde on Monday, October 13, 2025 which was barely a day after the presidential election in the country. To the surprise of many, the FDC leader at the press conference blasted the presidential candidate of the party, Hiram Samuel Iyodi, for what he termed was his irresponsible attitude. Atangana said Hiram Iyodi spent time during the campaign period for the presidential election, wandering around, instead of working hard to defend the image or colours of the party. He said Iyodi even pushed aside militants of the FDC that were in his campaign team, and thus sidelined the party in the campaign. The FDC leader also accused the presidential candidate of having done certain things that had in a way destabilized the FDC.  It should be noted that Hiram Samuel Iyodi, the youngest presidential candidate in the October 12, 2025 presidential election, is not in reality a militant of FDC. He merely went and negotiated with the leadership of FDC as a YANGO Party, to run for the 2025 presidential election, on the ticket of the party.

Meanwhile in yet another surprising move at the press conference, the National President of FDC, Denis Emilien Atangana, congratulated President Biya, for what he claimed was his brilliant re-election for another seven year mandate, at the presidential election which held on Sunday, even though the official result of the election has not yet been proclaimed. He claimed that Biya had won the election, and said Biya’s purported re-election, was “a victory of stability and experience”.

Presidential Candidate Discloses That President of FDC, Wanted Him To Withdraw His Candidature, And Support Biya

In a communiqué issued in the afternoon of Monday, October 14, 2025, the Douala based Hiram Samuel Iyodi (a Bassa) who ran for the October 12, 2025 presidential election on the ticket of the FDC, reacted to declarations that the National President of FDC, Denis Emilien Atangana, Councilor at the Monatele Council, Lekie Division, Centre Region, made against him at a press conference in Yaounde early that day. He said he had taken note of the declarations that were made by the National President of FDC, unilaterally putting to an end to their political collaboration. He however deplored the method that the FDC leader used, by rather organizing a press conference, instead of  contacting him directly, and also the type of language he used against him, as well as what he said against him. He said worst still, the outing of the FDC President through his press conference, came just a day after a historic event (presidential election). Iyodi reiterated as well as regretted, that the FDC leader did all what he did, without consulting him, and in total disrespect of engagement and work accomplished.

Hiram Samuel Iyodi disclosed that the anger of the National President of FDC, Denis Emilien Atangana,   was due to the fact that he mounted pressure on him in vain in the last weeks before the October 12 presidential election, to withdraw his candidacy from the race, and declare his support for the candidate of the regime, Pau Biya.  He said he and his national campaign team firmly rejected the proposal. Iyodi said he refused the proposal by the National President of FDC, that he should withdraw from the presidential election and support the candidacy of the incumbent candidate, Paul Biya, because that was in sharp contrast to his political fight, which is for genuine change in Cameroon. He said his fight remains, the fight for change.  As regard the outcome of the October 12, 2025 presidential election, Hiram Samuel Iyodi, said his wish is that the real result from the ballot box should be respected.

MINAT And ELECAM Bosses Warn That Only The Constitutional Council, Has The Authority To Proclaim Official Result Of Presidential Election.

In a press conference in Yaounde last Friday, as well as a press briefing after voting ended in the October 12, 2025 presidential election across the country, the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, reiterated his warning that only the Constitutional Council has the authority to officially proclaim the result of the presidential election. He warned that any person or group that illegally declares the result of the election, will be considered to have crossed the, redline, and will be treated accordingly.  In the declaration that the Managing Director of ELECAM, Dr Essousse Erik, made in the evening of Sunday, October 12 in Yaounde, when voting in the presidential election officially ended, he cautioned that only the Constitutional Council has the authority to officially announce the result of the election.  It should be noted that the way Cameroon handles the presidential election is very complicated.  The results from all the polling stations following last Sunday’s voting have just gone, through the Divisional Vote Counting Commissions, after three days of work, on results that came from the polling  stations.  Each Divisional Vote Counting Commission is headed by the President of the High Court. It is usually at the level of the Divisional Vote Counting Commissions, that the ruling CPDM Party and Government, with ELECAM, do some dirty business behind the scenes. There are 58 Divisions in Cameroon, meaning that there were 58 Divisional Vote Counting Commissions for the October 12, 2025 presidential election. After that stage, the results from the different Divisions go to the National Vote Counting Commission, which will among other things compile or tally the results from the 58 Divisions, to give the final result of the presidential election. The National Vote Counting Commission is chaired by a member of the Constitutional Council. From the National Vote Counting Commission, the national result of the election now gets to the Constitutional Council, to proclaim the result.  But before proclaiming the official result of the election, the Constitutional Council first listens to petitions filed by candidates in relation to the presidential election.

Issa Tchiroma Proclaim Himself, ‘President –Elect’

In the night of Monday, October 13, breaking Tuesday, October 14, 2025, the leader of the FSNC Party, Issa Tchiroma Bakary (former member of government), who was his party’s candidate at the October 12, 2025 presidential election, unilaterally proclaimed himself the ‘President –Elect’ of Cameroon. Below is Issa Tchiroma’s declaration in its entirety:

My dear compatriots,

Cameroon Women and Men

Today, it is with deep emotion and immense pride that I address you. Together, we have written history.

Throughout this campaign, I saw a Cameroon standing tall. I saw women, I saw men, youths, and elders braving threats, facing intimidation, yet remaining mobilized. I saw voters keeping watch in polling stations until the end of the night, protecting their voices, defending the truth of the ballot box. This courage, this determination will forever remain engraved in the memory of our Nation.

First, I want to say thank you to the Cameroonian people. Thank you for believing in me, thank you for believing in us, thank you believing in change. Thank you to all who voted and to all who protected their votes. You are the true heroes of this victory.

My gratitude also goes to all the men and women who fought this battle before me. Without your work, we would not be here today. For this, I say thank you.

I also thank the candidates who have already sent me their congratulations and recognized the will of the people. Their gesture honors our democracy and marks the beginning of a new era, where the unity of the opposition and civil society becomes an irresistible force.

 My dear compatriots, our victory is clear, it must be respected. We have placed the regime before its responsibilities. Either it shows greatness by accepting the truth of the ballot box, or it chooses to plunge the country into turmoil that will leave an indelible scar in the heart of our Nation.

I want to say it with gravity and simplicity:  the people have chosen. And the choice must be respected.  

I call on all institutions, all administrative authorities, all officials, not to make themselves enemies of the people they are meant to serve. The time of fear, manipulations, and false calculations is over. The only camp that matters today is that of Cameroon. To our defense and security forces, I pay tribute to your loyalty. I call on you to remain on the side of the Republic and Peace. Do not let anyone divert you from your sacred mission to protect the people, not a regime.

To the youths of Cameroon, I say the future belongs to you. To our teachers, our workers, our farmers, our soldiers, our journalists, our diaspora, I repeat, you stood up firm, and you won. The victory is not that of one man, nor of one party. It is the victory of a people. It is the victory of Cameroon.

Together we will turn the page. Together we will reconcile our Nation, rebuild our institutions, and open the path to a just, dignified and fraternal future.

In the coming days, I will share with you a detailed report of your votes by region, as compiled from the results publicly posted, in accordance with Article 113 of the Electoral Code, in polling stations across the country and in the diaspora. These results deeply moved me; they show that this victory goes beyond my person. It is a clear sanction of the regime in place, and a plebiscite in favor of immediate change, because the victory is overwhelming.

My dear compatriots, the whole world is watching us. History is observing us. Let us rise to the height of this moment. We call on the regime in place to show greatness and honor the truth of the ballot box with one expected gesture: that phone call of congratulations, which will demonstrate the political maturity of our Nation and the future strength of our democracy.

 Today a new era begins. Today, the Cameroon of hope begins.

Long live Cameroon

Long live the Republic

Long live sovereign people.